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LucasArts Embargoes "Clone Wars" Reviews

An anonymous reader writes "George Lucas CGI 'Clone Wars' movie has premiered to reviews ranging from MSNBC's 'Ugly animation and an uninspired storyline drag down the film' to AintItCool's 'I hated the film. HATED IT. REALLY HATED IT.' Critics have noted the animation style, music and slapstick humor had more than a passing similarity to Pixar's Toy Story, and wondered if the introduction of new action figures (sorry, characters) like Baby Jabba Hutt and Jabba the Hutt's Gay Uncle may have taken the franchise a bridge too far. Lucas responding by enforcing an embargo, forcing the reviews to be taken down. While sites like AintItCool.com responded, by then it was just a little too late. Still, the CGI eye candy will make it popular with kids. If the 'Clone Wars' movie can't save the galaxy, can it at least save the franchise?"

23 of 603 comments (clear)

  1. George Lucas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can suck my dick.

  2. Save the Franchise? by k_187 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the franchise was lost among the faithful a long time ago. Somewhere between Mesaa and Jar-Jar Binks.

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    12112
    1. Re:Save the Franchise? by Lilith's+Heart-shape · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As far as I'm concerned, it was lost when Lucas decided to have Greedo shoot first over a decade after the movie finished its theatrical run. It's a bit late now, George.

    2. Re:Save the Franchise? by Chelloveck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ewoks were cool

      Wow. Seriously dude, I've never, ever heard those words used together like that.

      I know! The Clone Wars is supposed to be so awful it'll make someone five years from now post "Jar-jar was cool."

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      Chelloveck
      I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    3. Re:Save the Franchise? by oliderid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, I was 8 when I first watched A New hope. I loved it. I watched it again few months ago...And Frankly I found the scenario a bit too simple. But my nephew simply loved it...So the real show for me was watching him :-).

      Don't you feel that we are simply getting older and the star wars franchise isn't for us anymore? Kids seem to enjoy it as much as we did (IMHO).

      As a 30's, I prefer is Battlestar Galactica II. I prefer six over the princess anyday ;-)

    4. Re:Save the Franchise? by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think they really missed the Han Solo type of character in the new stuff. Han Solo showed you can be kickass without the force. The new movies relegated everyone without the force to cannon fodder. While watching force power fights are fun they don't really make good story as they have a lot of power. But there isn't really anyone to relate to. the Jedi were too goody goody. The sith were mostly just evil. (Duko had a chance as a good vilan but they just gave him one movie (Which was horible) and killed in 5 minutes in the next) Han Solo was the good guy but had a dark side which made him more human and recognizable. The new movies didn't have that. They kinda tried with Jar Jar but he was too stupid and attempt to be a comic role (which R2D2 and C3PO took as well) we needed a serious character who was a normal guy who kicked ass.

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      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    5. Re:Save the Franchise? by noewun · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Me, too. This was the point at which I realized Lucas was making a product, not a film.

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      I am a believer of momentum and curves.
    6. Re:Save the Franchise? by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think they really missed the Han Solo type of character in the new stuff. Han Solo showed you can be kickass without the force. The new movies relegated everyone without the force to cannon fodder. While watching force power fights are fun they don't really make good story as they have a lot of power.

      And now they have a Force Unleashed game coming out where they amp up the Force powers until it's like frickin' Dragonball Z. All that's missing is Vegeta screaming "HIS POWER LEVELS ARE 9000??!!!" Crazy-stupid boosting of character powers for drama's sake, it's like their script was something 13-year old boys were furiously masturbating over. All that remains is for Anakin to scream out "I AM THE BEST JEDI EVER! AND THAT IS TRUE ULTIMATE POWER!"

      --
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    7. Re:Save the Franchise? by MagdJTK · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Don't forget Grim Fandango, possibly the most overlooked videogame gem ever.

    8. Re:Save the Franchise? by robertjw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I never liked Jar-Jar much, but I agree, that wasn't all that was wrong with the movie.

      He is at about the same level of annoyance that the Ewoks were in Jedi, the difference is the rest of the movie. Jedi was a GREAT story, and even if the acting and some of the dialog was a little shaky. Episodes I, II and III all suffered from poor writing. The story just wasn't there. It made annoying characters like Jar-Jar just stand out all the more.

    9. Re:Save the Franchise? by Random+BedHead+Ed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'd put it another, sadder way: the first two movies were "broken" from what Lucas really wanted, and it wasn't until Jedi and the prequels that he started to exercise greater control. Or rather, what you like best about A New Hope and Empire is not what Lucas was really shooting for: these were all meant to be kid's movies, and that the first couple attracted adults and sci-fi lovers was a profitable accident.

      The more control Lucas has over the story and filming, the worse the film ends up. Go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and then read one of the leaked copies of Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods on the Internet. The latter is a professionally written screenplay by someone who loves the characters, the former is Lucas's "corrected" version. We need to stop having high expectations of the man.

    10. Re:Save the Franchise? by dogmatixpsych · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You hit the nail on the head. The writing/scripting in the newer Star Wars movies wasn't that great. Actually, it was mainly just the dialogue that was poorly-written. I think the stories were there for the most part though, we just had poor dialogue to listen to.

      Lucas is a master at coming up with stories, he just isn't great at actually writing them. He's given us Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Willow. He is also good visually; all the Star Wars movies look fantastic visually and have awesome special effects. He just needs to let other people write and direct and only be involved at a creative level (artistic direction, overarching story, visual effects, etc.).

    11. Re:Save the Franchise? by Sethus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What really irked me was how Lucas and Lucasarts 'approved' all these expanded universe books and gave them their seal of approval. Then they turn around and just destroyed the whole expanded universe in the prequals and claimed the expanded universe was untrue. I know that makes me sound fanboy, (and I am) but I just have a harder time accepting the Prequals and Canon than the Expanded Universe.

      I know that's pretty backwards, but those stories had so much more depth and better characters to them. I even went back to re-read the Timothy Zahn series just this year, and came to the same conclusion as you.

      --
      Posting with out proof reading since 2001.
  3. Streisand by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Lucas really wants those bad reviews out there front and center, he's doing a bang up job of ensuring that.

    1. Re:Streisand by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you strike down these reviews, they will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

  4. Except that it doesn't make sense by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lets not forget that episodes 1-3 were not exactly cheap to produce. If Lucas had sold out, he would have had the movies made in hong-kong on a shoe-string budget and then raked in the cash based on the brand alone. THAT is selling out.

    What he did instead is forget what made the original movies such a success, not just with kids but with adults as well (it was my mom that introduced me to Star Wars and she was an adult mother when it was released) and instead attempted to make the movie appeal to kids without understand what kids want.

    Basically, he ignored his matured fanbase and tried to appeal to a new demographic that just didn't exist.

    Lets face it, kids today got better entertainment then 3 films that are nothing but a punch and judy show (KIDS: look out punch BEHIND you PUNCH: where KIDS: BEHIND YOU), the jedis never being able to spot the baddie until it is way to late.

    It might have worked as high fantasy with a doomed ending with just a tiny bit of hope remaining but that doesn't work in a kiddy movie.

    I like the ending of episode three were you see the would be rebels dispersing, but everything before was just... Well not bad exactly, just that the actors could not act, Lucas can't write or direct and just who was the story aimed at anyway?

    The most obvious failure? Nobody quotes the new star wars to honor it. "These are not the droids you are looking for" "I am your father" "I find your lack of faith disturbing" "It is a trap".

    Where are the episode 1-3 quotes?

    George Lucas one had luck producing a movie, it is known by fans that this was not his own creation, his wife for instance seems to have played a large role. Other directors did ESB. He should go back to producing but frankly, his most crowning achievement, getting Star Wars made in the 70's is no longer anything complex with the fortune he has know and the standard high special effects movie we got know. People forgot just how ground breaking A New Hope was from a producers job. That is gone now. Lucas has nothing to do but sign the checks and so he gets involved with other things that were previously left to others.

    Lucas did not make A New Hope, he produced it. He did make episode 1-3. That's the problem.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

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  5. Not the biggest movie and its STAR WARS by Woundweavr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The franchise was already lost. A new Star Wars movie is coming out to theaters and its not even close to being the #1 geek movie of the summer. Even if you took out the superhero movies and Star Trek, its still lagging behind. Ten years ago that would have been inconceivable as even re-releases were huge.

    You can't live off past glory forever.

  6. Re:Does taking down reviews ever help? by Hatta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seems to me that if you're a reviewer, your reputation for independence is more important than early access to films. Who cares if you review a movie early, if that review is nothing but a mouthpiece for Lucasfilm marketing?

    Every reviewer with integrity should publish what they want, when they want. If the entire industry bars them from reviewing films until they're open, then people will learn not to see films on opening day. I don't think the industry wants that.

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  7. Re:TIE Fighter II by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Given how awesome TIE Fighter was? I'd take that.

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    "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
  8. Re:If in doubt, read this article! by radish · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some odd FORCE really drives the market. I have a collection with items dating as recent as 1981, valued between $5000 and $7500. The original prices for the items summed to no more than $670!

    Should have bought stock. Had you put that same $670 in a DJIA tracker back in '81 you'd have $8262 right now. Had you had amazing foresight and put it in Apple stock, you'd have almost $41,000!

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    ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

  9. Oh, I have no doubt by DesScorp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know exactly what's driving Lucas on this. Cash. Period. Whatever motivations he may have once had for this story and this franchise, his sole concern now seems to be the bank account.

    Supposedly the new movie was supposed to be televised first and then straight to DVD, and during preparation of the movie Lucas' people said he lit up and said something like "This is so good it needs to be in theaters!".

    I think it was more like "Hey, I think we can squeeze another 90 to 100 million out of the suckers if we put this in theaters".

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    Life is hard, and the world is cruel
    1. Re:Oh, I have no doubt by indifferent+children · · Score: 4, Insightful
      God forbid someone making money in this world.

      It isn't "making money" that is the problem. There are acceptable ways to make money, and unacceptable ways. The intersection of art and money is touchy, and selling-out usually does hurt the art (though perhaps not in proportion to the feeling of betrayal expressed by fans). If your mother and sisters announced that they had become prostitutes, surely you wouldn't object to the fact that they were making money.

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      Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
    2. Re:Oh, I have no doubt by prisoner-of-enigma · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I know exactly what's driving Lucas on this. Cash. Period. Whatever motivations he may have once had for this story and this franchise, his sole concern now seems to be the bank account.

      I disagree. According to Forbes, George's personal fortune is immense. He's worth $3.5 billion, making him #61 on the list of the 400 Richest people in America. He could buy a new Ferrari every day for the rest of his life and still have billions left over. Ditto for yachts, mansions, and jets. What possible motivation would he have to try and amass more wealth? As Bill Gates once said, at some point, no matter how much you're able to pay for a hamburger, does it taste any better?

      What's driving Lucas here is that he thinks his films are the highest art in the land. He truly thinks he can write good dialogue (he can't), touching love scenes (dear God, no), and witty humor (for a three-year-old, maybe). He puts out this execrable dreck because, in his mind, it's all the other films that are execrable dreck. His wealth allows him to live in his own world, and I'm quite sure all those around him -- who are dependent upon him for a paycheck -- nod respectfully and praise his work as that of a master even when they'd probably rather wipe their asses with it.

      No, it's not greed that drives Lucas to destroy our cherished childhood memories of one of the most seminal films ever made. It's his pride. He simply refuses to believe he's as awful of a filmmaker as he really is, and stuff like Clone Wars is the result.

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      In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky